The reason local link building resists automation is that the thing being automated is not a link. Apurva Bose of Overtake Digital is unusually direct about what it actually is.

Bose On Links As Relationship Byproducts

“local link building transcends mere online interactions; it’s fundamentally about establishing and nurturing real-world business relationships within the community.”

— Apurva Bose, Overtake Digital

He describes his own practice as generating “organic backlinks through collaborations rather than purchasing them,” alongside the unglamorous local fundamentals — “optimising listings, managing NAP consistency.”

And he widens the target beyond the obvious: engagement should not be “limited to one’s immediate business niche,” because the point is “to integrate your business into the fabric of the local community.”

Where Events Fit The Local Link Picture

Bose names the tactic explicitly:

“We also encourage clients to participate in or sponsor community events and charity causes, enhancing their local presence both online and offline.”

— Apurva Bose

With a caveat that decides whether it works: “This method requires active participation from the business owner to ensure authenticity and effectiveness in building those crucial local links.”

He also warns off the lazy version. On approaching community organisations, he notes the limited value of email “due to the high volume of emails these organizations receive,” and recommends “phone calls or personal visits” instead.

The Twenty Businesses Nearest Your Client

Our exercise rather than Bose’s. Map the twenty organisations physically nearest the client and sort them into suppliers, complementary trades, community organisations and direct competitors.

The first three columns are the addressable ones, and almost none of them will appear in a backlink tool’s prospect list, because the tool is looking for topical relevance and this is geographic relevance. That is exactly why the opportunity is still there.

Bose’s related point is worth carrying into the exercise: in local SEO “the emphasis should shift towards identifying and engaging with shared audiences rather than solely concentrating on link authority.”

Running It As A Retained Service

This is where most agencies balk, because relationship work does not fit a monthly link quota. Ours is scoped as a cadence instead: a set number of real interactions per month, a named owner participating rather than an account manager impersonating them, and reporting on relationships opened as well as URLs earned.

Bose’s honesty principle applies to the client conversation too. He talks about “setting realistic expectations” and “balancing clients’ aspirations with market realities to prevent future dissatisfaction, even if it means tempering their initial expectations.” Local link building compounds, and it is slow. Say so at the start.

See holistic visibility and our services.

Talk to us via the contact page.